Visakhapatnam: In the remote tribal hamlet of Kotha Yellavaram in Donkada area of Golugonda mandal in Anakapalle district, parents staged a protest demanding a road, so that their children could reach safely.
Panchayatraj department had sanctioned a BT road from Karaka R&B road to Donkada on October 30, 2023 with a budget of ₹1.35 crore. However, the project has been mired in bureaucratic delays. Initially, the work got stalled due to the absence of permission from the Forest department. Villagers then staged a dharna at the District Collector’s Office on January 22, 2025, following which the forest department issued the necessary permission on January 30, 2025.
However, work on the road has not yet started. Officials earlier cited MLC elections as the reason for delay. Now, they say work cannot be started as the RDO has not sent the Joint Inspector’s report yet.
Engineering officials warn that if the work does not commence soon, onset of the rainy season will make construction of the road impossible.
Tribal leaders and activists, including Marri Pothuraj, Kondathambari Satthibabu and CPM district executive committee member K. Govinda Rao have requested district collector Vijaya Krishnan to intervene and break the bureaucratic deadlock, so that road works can begin in a timely manner.